Std XI admissions likely to see rush due to bumper results

Nagpur: Std XI admissions are likely to see an unprecedented rush this time, particularly for the leading colleges, thanks to nearly cent percent Std X results where marks were awarded on the basis of past performance due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Last year, over 24,000 seats were vacant in city colleges out of 59,250 after the centralized admissions process (CAP).
With a big improvement in the results this time, all these seats are expected to be filled up, as per deputy directorate of education officials here. After the seats weren’t filled up last year post CAP, multiple rounds were arranged for the students, yet the seats remained vacant.
The officials attributed this trend that emerged in the last few years due to the mushrooming of new colleges on the city's outskirts which didn’t come under the CAP jurisdiction. Many of them allegedly have nexus with coaching classes and provide facilities for students to skip college lectures.
In some cases, even the college’s biometric attendance machine was installed on the premises of coaching classes, as per the officials. A case was filed by some city-based colleges against this unethical practice in the Nagpur bench of Bombay high court, where it’s pending.
Dr Ambedkar Junior College vice-principal Kabir Rawalkar said, “The vacancies are increasing due to colleges which deliberately open their campuses outside the city limits to avoid monitoring by the state education department. They are the ultimate beneficiaries of vacancies in the city, as they attract most of the lot due to leeway offered to them of skipping the college lectures.”
Rawalkar added, “Even commerce and arts streams witnessed huge vacancies. We’re expecting a better position this time in view of bumper results.”
The officials said that the demand would increase not only for Std 11 admissions, but also for diploma and certificate courses offered by various polytechnics and Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) in the city and outskirts, due to the jump in the results. Even polytechnics have witnessed big vacancies in the last few years.
The officials added that students shouldn’t worry as the government would grant permission to increase seats if they are filled up in the CAP. “The colleges can apply to increase 20% seats through the education department, which then sends the proposal to Mumbai for clearance. Except for the last couple of years, the colleges used to apply for increasing seats due to the high number of admissions,” they said.
Seat status of Std XI last year
Stream ------------ Seats ----------------- Vacancies
Arts ---------------- 9,660 ----------------- 5,640
Commerce ------ 17,920 ----------------- 7,953
Science ---------- 27,330 ----------------- 8,714
MCVC ------------ 4,130 ----------------- 2,109
Total ---------------- 59,040 ----------------- 24,416